AFTER two performances in which the players have not looked motivated, Taylor accepts there will be questions asked.

"People will always question motivational ability but never have to do it themselves," he said. "You live with that people who know how to do it better than you.

"I have always lived with that. But no monuments are ever built to a critic. You hear people telling us what we are not doing and what we were doing at the start of the season."

Looking to Birmingham, he said they came so close to winning the Worthington Cup but seemed less than impressed a penalty shoot-out determined which club plays in Europe next season.

Taylor said: "Birmingham got there on merit, knocking out Newcastle, Tottenham and Ipswich out on the way, and one could argue they finished the stronger before it went to penalties. They did fantastically well. Yet we all know when Uefa is on next year they will not be in it and they will be the only ones thinking that."

Taylor points out Birmingham are bidding for the play-offs for the third successive year.

"We have to stand ourselves up against Brum, who have been there for a number of seasons," he said. "As much as we are up and down, we are in with a shout to make the play-offs again. We are disappointed in our inconsistency.

"Just at the moment we have had up and down results. We were in front against Sheffield Wednesday Norwich, Portsmouth and Stockport but have only won one of them. When you are in front and don't win the game it can affect confidence. We certainly have one or two players who are not as confident as they should be.

"It is how we react at that time. I do understand when people are not performing at their best and are a bit short of confidence and those people whose reaction to that is more of a negative one.

"I have tried to emphasise to players it is attitude that counts. No one means to make a bad pass."

Taylor looks to the Birmingham match tonight and then on to next week's games against QPR and Norwich.

He said: "QPR with a new manager and Norwich who are fitting a rich vein of form. We are capable of winning all three but you don't know. The problem is the goals we have conceded have been really schoolboy errors."